Advertising Language As Realization Of Dynamic Adaptation Tothe Audience's Mental World

The thesis is an investigation on what the advertiser has done to adapt to the audience's mental world in making printed advertisements. The focus is put on the study of advertising language. Advertising as both one-way and persuasive communication requires more effort on the production side;however, the previous studies due to the lack of a comprehensive theory lead to the limited explanation on advertising language generation. Jef. Verschueren's linguistic adaptation theory influenced by evolutionary epistemology with an attempt to explain linguistic phenomena by referring to non-linguistic pressures and causes sheds new light on the study of advertising language. Thereby, within the parameters of Adaptation theory, the author proposes that the advertising language generation is the realization of adaptation;the achievement of communicative goal is determined by the advertiser's contextual adaptation. To ascertain what specific contextual correlates the advertiser has to adapt to, a theoretical framework accounting for the active adaptation between the advertiser's choice-making and the audience's mind is set up according to Dr Yu G.D.'s classification on passive adaptation and active adaptation. Using the framework, the analysis is carried out on the continuum between rational appeal and emotional appeal. Rational and emotional appeal as ways of expression is result of the advertiser's choices on strategies;meanwhile, manifests the linguistic resource. Under discussion, negotiable choices are exploited as adaptation to needs for functions, credibility, low price in the line of rational appeal;while in the same way, after negotiation linguistic choices are made to adapt to needs for compliments, love, romance and self-actualization in the field of Chinese female cosmetic advertising.